Wednesday, February 6

Shaq's Debut Against ... Seattle?

In case you hadn't noticed, Shaquille O'Neal is apparently headed to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion.

What you might not have realized however, is that Phoenix plays tonight (Wednesday) against New Orleans, a game in which O'Neal surely would not particpate.

However, the next game the Suns play is at home, Friday night, against your Seattle SuuuuperSonics. Meaning, of course, that Kurt Thomas will get a chance to audition for any number of playoff teams by showing how he can stand up to the Big Diesel.

As a side note, who the hell am I supposed to root for if/when the Suns plays the Lakers in the playoffs? As hard as it is to say, I've rooted for the Lakers the past couple of years because of my loathing for Steve Nash and the Suns.

But now? When it's Shaq v Kobe? Man, that's a hard call to make. I'll cop out on a decision for the time being by waiting for the trade to be made official, but one thing is certain if this trade goes down and if the Suns meet the Lakers in the playoffs:

I read that the Suns play the Lakers in a week or so - should be interesting to see Shaq and Kobe go at it again.

I like the Suns' lineup better, even though everybody seems to think that Shaq is going to slow them down. They needed a big guy, and even though he's not the 30-15 guy from a few years ago, there are only 5-6 better centers in the league right now.